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Dept for Transport

Answer

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether a full cost benefit analysis has been made of the need for a Crossrail station at Woolwich; and if he will make a statement; [223126] (2) what consultation has been carried out to ascertain the views of people in southeast London on a Crossrail station at Woolwich; [223127] (3) what assessment has been made of whether a Crossrail station at Woolwich would meet the Government's integrated transport criteria for new rail schemes; [223128] (4) if he will ensure that the merits of a station at Woolwich are properly assessed before the Crossrail Bill is presented to the House; [223129] (5) what estimate has been made of the costs of building a station at Woolwich after the Crossrail link to Abbey Wood has opened. [223130] Mr. McNulty: A Crossrail station at Woolwich was considered during the development of the project, but could not be justified on the current estimates of cost, passenger numbers and benefits. Crossrail will pass under Woolwich in deep tunnels and the cost of constructing an underground station would therefore be high. In view of this, powers have not been sought for a station at Woolwich in the Bill introduced into Parliament on 22 February 2005. However, the alignment of the tunnels has been designed so as to allow a station at Woolwich to be developed in the future, if it could be justified at that time. An area of land has also been safeguarded for this purpose. No estimate has been made of the potential cost of constructing a station at Woolwich once Crossrail is operational. However, this would entail closure of the route from Custom House to Abbey Wood for a number of years, and therefore the cost would be greater than for construction before operation. Cross London Rail Links Ltd., the company set up to develop and promote the Crossrail project, consulted widely including two 12-week rounds of public consultation on the project. During both rounds, public information centres were held at Woolwich and Abbey Wood, to provide information and seek residents' views. These were supported by mail drops to those potentially affected, newsletters, a dedicated website and a 24-hour telephone helpline.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c630-1W; 223126;223127;223128;223129;223130

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Costs Construction Elizabeth line Cost benefit analysis Railway stations Public participation Woolwich

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk